Securement for a round-side load in a transport vehicle



Sept. 17 1963 o. o. CLARK ETAL SECUREMENT FOR A ROUND-SIDE LOAD IN ATRANSPORT VEHICLE Filed March l0, 1961 United States Patent O 3,103,898SECUREMENT FOR A ROUND-SIDE LOAD IN V A TRANSPGRT VEHICLE Orville O.Clark, Joliet, and John F. Phelps, Downers Grove Township, Du PageCounty, Ill., assignors to United States Steel Corporation, acorporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 94,805 2 Claims.(Cl. 105--369) The present invention relates generally to the lading oftransport vehicles and more particularly to an improved securement for around-side load in a transport vehicle.

Although not restricted thereto the securement of our invention ndspractical application in the lading of coils of wire or rod inrailway-box cars, `and in that application we shall, in an exemplaryWay, describe it.

Prior to our invention the usual practice followed in loading coils ofwire or rod in a railroad box car consisted of loading the coils in onehalf of the box car at a time and arranging the coils in parallel rowsextending longitudinally of the car from oneend thereof to a pointadjacent the center door opening of the car. The coils in each row beingdisposed with the eyes thereof in horizontal alignment. Such a load unitwas formed on each side of the center door of the car. One end of therows of coils in each load unit abutted and was supported by the endwall of the car. The opposite end of each of the rows of coils wasblocked by means of wooden 2 x 4s nailed to the floor and the sides ofthe car in abutting relation with the end coil in each row. This priorpractice did not prove satisfactory in -that the coils of wire or rodtended to shift and bounce in transit and usually arrived at theirdestination in poor condition.

Efforts were also made to block the load units by applying strappingacross the free end of each of the load units and anchoring the ends ofthe strapping to the side walls of the car. However, this type ofblocking also proved unsatisfactory due to the fact that the roundedside contour of the coils caused the strapping to slip and be displacedfrom engagement with the load when the coils shifted in transit.

It is, accordingly, the primary object of our invention to provide asecurement for a round-side load in a transport vehicle -which consistsof applying an arrangement of metal banding straps and an open meshmetal fabric screen to the load in a unique manner so as to positivelyhold the load in place.

It is another object of our invention to provide a securement asdescribed in the preceeding object wherein the banding straps and metalopen mesh fabric screen coact to prevent the securement from beingdisplaced along the round sides of the load. A

It is a further object of our invention to provide a securement for around side load which is inexpensive to assemble and which can beapplied to a load unit easily and quickly.

These and other objects will become more apparent after referring to thefollowing specification and attached drawing in which:

The single FIGURE of the drawing is an isometric view partiallydiagrammatic showing a load of wire coils secured in a railroad box carby means of the securement of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing reference character Adesignates the load-bearing iloor surface of a conventional railroad boxcar having side walls B and an end wall C. A load unit L, consisting ofthree rows of wire coils W in upright position, is shown disposed on theoor A of the car between the side walls B with its sides extendingsubstantially parallel with the side walls B and one end of the loaduni-t abutting the end Patented Sept. 17, 1563 wall C. The wire coils Ware shown somewhat diagrammatically for purposes of clarity.

Such an arrangement of a load unit of wire coils in a box car isconventional and is not claimed as part of our invention the details ofwhich will now be described.

The securement of our invention, designated generally by referencenumeral 2, includes an open mesh wire fabric screen 4 disposed acrossthe end of the load unit L remote from the end wall C ofthe car. A pairof vertically spaced banding straps 6 and 8, each interwoven through themesh of the screen 4, extend from one side wall B of the box car tothe'other.

Each of the banding straps 6 and 8 is made up of a pair of lengths ofstrapping 6', 6" and 8', 8, respectively, each of which is anchored byone end to a side wall of the car intermediate the end wall C and thecenter door opening E, of the car. The free ends of each pair of lengthsof strapping 6', 6" and 8', S" are overlapped and have been tensionedand then sealed by means of conventional band seals D. n

The lowermost banding strap 6 extends in a horizontal plane below thecentral horizontal plane through the load while the upper banding strap8 is above the central horizontal plane through the load. The lowermostbanding strap 6 serves to prevent the wire fabric screen 4 from movingupwardly along the end of the load unit and the screen 4 prevents theuppermost strap from being displaced upwardly. The banding straps 6 and`S together with the mesh screen 4 function to positively secure theload L in position.

In operation, before the load unit L of wire coils is placed in the carthe vertically spaced pairs of lengths of banding strapping 6', 6" and8', 8" are each anchored by one end to the side walls B of the box carby any suitable means, such as anchor plates F, at points intermediatethe center door opening and the end wall of the car. After the strappinglengths have been thus anchored to the side Iwalls of the car, they arelaid on the floor of the car adjacent the side walls. The wire coils Ware then moved into the car and arranged into the load unit L. After theload unit L has been thus arranged in the one end of the car the openmesh wire fabric screen 4 is placed in upright position across the endsof the load unit L as shown. The strapping lengths are then interwoventhrough the mesh of the screen, overlapped, tensioned, and theninterlocked with banding seals D in the conventional manner to form thelower and the upper banding straps 6 and 8. The interweaving of thestraps through the mesh of the screen prevents the straps from shiftingand results in the coils of wire being positively held in positionduring shipment. It will be noted that the lower strap 6 applies adownward force to the mesh screen and prevents it from moving upwardlywhile the screen applies a downward force to the upper banding strap 8and prevents it from moving upwardly. Coaction between the bandingstraps and the wire fabric screen anchors the securement in place andprevents it from being displaced upwardly along the round side of theload unit.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modiications may be madewithout departing from the scope ofthe following claims.

We claim:

l. Securement for a round-side load in a transport vehicle having aload-bearing floor surface, spaced side walls and an end wall, said loadbeing disposed on said lloor surface between said side walls with oneend thereof abutting said end wall and its other end disposed remotefrom said end wall, said remote end of said load being substantiallyllat, the axis of said load being generally horizontal and extendinggenerally parallel with said side walls, said securement comprising ametal mesh screen disposed transversely across said remote end of saidload, and a pair of vertically spaced banding straps each interwoventhrough the mesh of said screen along substantially the entirehorizontal length of the screen and extending from one side Wall to theother, each of said straps being secured at its ends to said side wallsintermediate the ends of the load, the interwoven portion of thelowermost one of said banding straps being in a horizontal plane abovethe secured end portions `thereof whereby said lowermost strap exerts adownward force on said screen to maintain the latter in position acrosssaid remote end of said load, said screen being effective to maintainthe uppermost one of said straps in position across said remote end ofsaid load when said screen is held down by said lowermost strap.

2. Securement for a round-side load in a transport vehicle having aload-bearing surface, spaced side walls and an end wall, said load beingdisposed on said floor surface between said side walls with one endthereof abutting said end wall and its other end disposed remote fromsaid end wall, said remote end of said load being substantially flat,the axis of said load being generally horizontal and extending generallyparallel with said side walls, said securement comprising a metal meshscreen disposed transversely across said remote end of said load,

and a pair of vertically spaced banding straps each interwoven throughthe mesh of said screen along substantially the entire horizontal lengthof the screen and extending from one side wall to the other, each ofsaid straps being secured at its ends to said side Walls intermediatethe ends of the load, the lowermost one of said straps being in ahorizontal plane below the central horizontal plane through said loadand the uppermost one of said straps being in a horizontal plane abovethe central horizontal plane through said load, the interwoven portionof said lowermost one of said straps being in a horizontal plane above:the secured ends thereof whereby said lowermost strap exerts a downwardforce on said screen, said lowermost one of said straps being effectiveto maintain said screen in position across said remote end of saidload,and said screen being effective to maintain said uppermost one of saidstraps in position across said remote end of said load.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,703,495 MacChesney et al. Feb. 26, 1929 1,705,059 Hintz Mar. 12, 19291,772,902 Knowlton et al. Aug. 12, 1930 2,269,286 Ott Jan. 6, 1942

1. SECUREMENT FOR A ROUND-SIDE LOAD IN A TRANSPORT VEHICLE HAVING ALOAD-BEARING FLOOR SURFACE, SPACED SIDE WALLS AND AN END WALL, SAID LOADBEING DISPOSED ON SAID FLOOR SURFACE BETWEEN SAID SIDE WALLS WITH ONEEND THEREOF ABUTTING SAID END WALL AND ITS OTHER END DISPOSED REMOTEFROM SAID END WALL, SAID REMOTE END OF SAID LOAD BEING SUBSTANTIALLYFLAT, THE AXIS OF SAID LOAD BEING GENERALLY HORIZONTAL AND EXTENDINGGENERALLY PARALLEL WITH SAID SIDE WALLS, SAID SECUREMENT COMPRISING AMETAL MESH SCREEN DISPOSED TRANSVERSELY ACROSS SAID REMOTE END OF SAIDLOAD, AND A PAIR OF VERTICALLY SPACED BANDING STRAPS EACH INTERWOVENTHROUGH THE MESH OF SAID SCREEN ALONG SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIREHORIZONTAL LENGTH OF THE SCREEN